Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has come to the defence of under-fire captain Son Heung-min amid criticism over his performances, insisting that the South Korean star is sure to bounce back and silence the critics. Postecoglou drew comparisons to Mohamed Salah, reminding critics of the doubters the Liverpool ace faced in early 2022/23 before roaring back into form.
The Spurs boss declared: "I think there were questions about Mo maybe a year or so ago. I would be wary about doing that, but it might help me if you write him off. Go for it!
"I don't see that in Sonny, I still think he's got a hell of a lot of quality and from a physical standpoint, the way he looks after himself, I don't see his abilities diminishing just due to the age factor at the moment. I don’t see that.
"He's had a bit of a disrupted start this year where he's had a couple of setbacks where he hasn't played regularly.
"I think with Sonny the more regularly he plays, the increase comes in that output. So the answer is no, I don’t think so, and I'd be wary about writing him off."
Spurs face an anxious wait over Dominic Solanke, who is battling fitness concerns. But optimism remains that he will return against his ex-club Bournemouth in their quest to climb the congested league table.
Postecoglou acknowledged Solanke's less than perfect fitness since missing Sunday’s draw with Fulham, revealing: "I’m hoping that extra percentage comes from just him getting back. He wanted to play on the weekend too but he couldn’t get out of his car let alone run around the pitch.
"Hopefully he will get through training, we’ve got another 24 hours to game time and I know how closely connected he feels with Bournemouth because it was his way back to having the career he wanted.
"Through Bournemouth, he got a move here, got back in the England squad and all these kinds of things. His journey of starting at some big clubs, not quite working out, Bournemouth were the ones who invested in him, worked with him.
"He spent a lot of time there, I’m sure he wants to do well not because he wants to hurt them but because he wants to show them that everything they invested in him is appreciated.
"It’s unusual for the Premier League where you really only have one team which is separated from the rest. I think it makes it exciting because it means every game has something on it. I think for the next couple of months I think it will be pretty tight."